(I don't have any friends that use Twitter that I know of, so I found one I liked from someone I follow instead!)
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Dominique was pissed off. She slammed her purse down on the table and flung herself into the bed, fuming. How dare they! She had been employed in the schools for years and they were forcing her out just like that? 'Budget cuts my ass,' she thought angrily. The principal had been looking for a reason to get rid of her for ages, just because she didn't kiss his ass like everyone else. She actually stood up for herself and her kids. And now she was out of a job. Realizing the severity of her situation, she began to cry as the door opened and her fiance Miguel walked in.
"Hey beautiful," he said, closing the door behind him. How was work?"
"They fired me," Dominique said wiping her eyes and sitting up. Miguel whipped his head around, looking at her.
"They did what?" he asked incredulously. He hurried over and sat next to her. "What happened?"
"Budget cuts," Dominique replied sarcastically. "But that cabron of a principal has been looking for a reason to get rid of me for ages, we all knew that. This just gave him an excuse."
"What about the union?" here fiance asked.
"They can't help me, not when we don't have the money. That asshole governor just keeps taking money away from us for her own stupid agendas."
"But you can get unemployment right?" asked Miguel. "Mi amor, we can't afford this apartment if both of us don't have jobs."
"I know okay?" Dominique snapped back, jumping up. "Trust me! I know! I know we're poor and we'll never get out of here and I thought I was secure! I just, I don't know what to do." She began to cry again, sinking to her knees. Miguel walked over and knelt in front of her.
"Dominique, it's going to be okay," he said gently. "We've been through worse, you know that."
"But we jut got done with that," she said, leaning into his chest. "We finally got ourselves out of that shitty apartment into a nice one and I can't imagine giving it up."
"We won't have to. You'll go down and file for unemployment, and I'll pick up some more shifts at the restaurant. Maybe you can still work, just at another school." Dominique nodded.
"It's just, I'll miss my kids," she said. "I finally got to know them and they were beginning to trust me. Everything was going so well. And now they're going to be split up and put in other classrooms. I'm just worried about them."
"I know you are," Miguel said, rubbing her shoulders. "But they're young. They can adapt. We'll be fine. Don't you worry okay mi amor. We can get through anything."
Dominique looked up at Miguel, smiling for the first time all day.
"I got lucky when I met you," she said.
"No, I got lucky." Miguel leaned down and kissed her. "Now, what do you say we see what's for dinner."
"Well, all I need is a glass of wine right now," Dominique replied getting up and walking to the pantry. She opened it and pulled out a bottle of red wine. "Where did you put the wine key?"
"In that drawer," Miguel answered pointing vaguely behind him as he looked in the freezer. Dominique rolled her eyes and opened drawers until she found it. Uncorking the wine, she grabbed a plastic cup from the cupboard and poured herself a glass. Meanwhile, Miguel pulled out a plastic bag.
"I just found some tamales your mom gave us for Christmas," he said. "What do you say?"
"Sounds good," Dominique replied, taking a long drink from her cup. She grabbed the bottle and topped off the cup. Miguel put the tamales on a plate and placed them in the microwave. He sat down on the bed and Dominique sat next to him, giving him the cup. He drank from it and gave it back to her.
"You'll see Dominique," he said as she leaned on his shoulder. "You have more gusto and more life in you than anyone can imagine. You'll get another job faster than you can say vamanos. Dominique smiled and took another long drink of wine.
(Unfortunately this story is based on a real life disaster scenario going on in the state of New Mexico, with Governor Susana Martinez taking more and more money from the school system and vetoing bills that give teachers more rights and freedoms to teach and take time off when they're sick without being penalized. There have been rumors going around of having a 4-day school week instead because there is not enough money to keep them open 5 days a week. Personally, I cannot wait until 2018 when we can oust that bitch and put someone in who gives a shit about us being the last state in education. Of course, with the new Secretary of Education, I doubt public schools will be around much longer.)
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